If you have an existing FHA loan on your primary residence and a fairly good credit score, you may be able to take advantage of the FHA Streamlined Refinancing Program, which eliminates many of the complex steps involved in a typical FHA refinance. No appraisal is required as long as the borrower reduces their payment by 5 percent, which has caused many to liken this program to the HARP 2.0 program.

Key requirements of the FHA Streamlined Program include the following:

Your original FHA loan must have been taken prior to 2009.

You must have made payments on time for at least one year and must be current on your payments at the time of application.

Your lender must be FHA approved.

You must have owned the property for at least 6 months prior to refinancing.

You will be limited to the amount of your original loan unless you pay for a new appraisal to show that the home value has increased.

The Arizona Housing Department awarded $20 million in tax credits to 18 projects last week and has worked out deals for the projects to be completed in almost half the time. These credits are expected to save each developer approximately $1 million on new Arizona projects and encourage additional housing development over the next decade. Read more…

azcentral.com: The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of some provisions of the “Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare). At this point, however, an article in azcentral.com explains why analysts expect that the ruling will not change the tide that will cause more employees in Arizona to pay more fees for health care. Employers are choosing plans that force employees to front the first $1000 to $10,000 of their health care before their coverage begins. As a result, an increasingly well-researched population of patients will use the internet to pick and choose which procedures they can afford just as they might pick from a cafeteria line. This seems to set up patients and doctors alike for failure. Lawyers, however, should become busier drafting waivers and releases to ensure doctors are able to perform the services patients request in these isolated circumstances.

findlaw.com: Have you been hurt in an accident that wasn’t your fault? No, we’re not hawking legal services on television. We just want to let you know that you may need to bring a serious claim if you’re hoping to collect on the pain and suffering. This article details the factors that jurors may consider:

The age of the injured victim. Younger victims may get larger pain-and-suffering damages, if they will have to deal with pain for the rest of their lives.

The type of injury. Brain injuries, and injuries that cause continuing physical pain, will generally result in larger awards.

How the injury affects the victim. This includes consideration of past, present, and future pain and suffering — including the certainty of future pain.

ABA Journal: “New statistics from NALP paint a bleak picture of the job market for 2011 law grads.

The overall employment rate nine months after graduation was 85.6 percent, the lowest it has been since 1994, according to a NALP – The Association for Legal Career Professionals press release. But the employment rate doesn’t tell the whole, dismal story.

Sixty percent of those surveyed by the New York Times and CBS News said they believe that appointing Supreme Court justices for life is a bad thing because it gives them too much power. Thirty-three percent, on the other hand, said lifetime appointments were a good thing because it keeps the justices independent.”

Estate of Denial: “For a man who’s been diagnosed with diabetes, you’d never guess that about Steven Cooksey. His life choices fly directly in the face of the American Diabetes Association’s recommendations for people living with the disease. He maintains a no-grain/low-carbohydrate diet, commonly known as the Paleo diet, and as a result is in fantastic health. Incredibly, because of his dietary decisions, Cooksey no longer requires insulin injections (on his website, he states that before adopting the Paleo diet he was taking four insulin shots a day). With those kind of seemingly miraculous results, it’s no surprise that Cooksey wanted to share his story and hopefully help others with what he’s learned through his own research and experience.